


The Sleeper and the Tsundere

by AquaTheLita



Series: Diabolik Brothers [7]
Category: Diabolik Lovers
Genre: All of my subaru fics so far have like 20 different angst tags smh, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Brotherly Affection, Brotherly Bonding, Brothers, Comfort/Angst, Gen, Good Big Brother Shuu, Light Angst, Literal Sleeping Together, Shuu just wants to sleep, Subaru is angsty again
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-24
Updated: 2018-08-24
Packaged: 2019-07-01 18:53:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15780036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AquaTheLita/pseuds/AquaTheLita
Summary: Surprise surprise: Subaru is upset about something. What's actually a surprise is that Shuu stops him on the way to tear up his room, trying to get him to talk it out instead of going on another rampage. What's an even bigger surprise is that it actually might just work.Alternate summary: The oldest and youngest Sakamakis have a relatively pleasant conversation for once, and then fall asleep together.Part of my Diabolik Brothers fic series (because this site doesn't have nearly enough non-romantic non-OC DL fics)





	The Sleeper and the Tsundere

**Author's Note:**

> This was written about a year ago. I'm posting it here since I now have an AO3 account. Also this site seriously needs more DL fics that don't involve romance, sex, or OCs. This is my favorite fic in this series. It's also the longest (so far). I really enjoyed writing it and I hope you guys enjoy reading it.

It was a typical night in the Sakamaki mansion. Shuu was sleeping on a couch in the living room. Reiji was making dinner in the kitchen. Ayato was bothering the human for blood. Kanato was eating sweets with Teddy in his room. Laito was being his usual perverted self. And as he almost always was, Subaru was angry about something.

The reason didn’t matter. All that mattered was that he was pissed off and he wanted to be alone. Not feeling like teleporting, and needing to expend some energy on the way there, he angrily stomped through the mansion on the way to his room. The young vampire passed through the living room, completely ignoring his sleeping older brother.

“Oi...Subaru...” came a calm and quiet voice from the couch.

Subaru was almost out of the room. He stopped and slowly turned around to face his brother, a clearly-irritated expression on his face. “What the hell do you want, Shuu?” he asked grumpily.

Shuu had one arm at his side and the other lying across his chest. Of course, he had his earbuds in, though as always it was impossible to tell whether or not the music from his MP3 player was actually playing or not, or at what volume. His eyes were closed and he wore that calm and gentle expression he usually did. He looked like he was asleep, and he spoke as if he was half-asleep, though Subaru knew better. Shuu didn’t talk in his sleep. “Stop for a moment.”

“I am stopped, you lazy idiot,” he snapped. “Otherwise I would be gone by now.”

“Okay. Come over here.”

“Why should I?”

“Just come over here.”

If it had been anyone else, Subaru would have flipped him off--regardless of his eyes being closed--and left with nothing more than a “fuck you.” But this was Shuu, the one brother Subaru could actually tolerate. So he did what he was told and walked over to Shuu, his footsteps loud and heavy. He stopped a foot away from the couch, near the side where Shuu’s head was. He crossed his arms and tapped his foot impatiently, drumming the fingers of one hand against his upper arm. “I’m here now. What do you want?” he asked harshly.

"Do you mind not being so noisy...and loud...?”

“Don’t tell me you called me over here just to tell me _that_!”

“I didn’t.”

“Then stop being so vague and redundant! Get to the point! WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?!” He squeezed his upper arms out of frustration.

Shuu finally opened his sapphire blue eyes, and met Subaru’s angry ruby red gaze. “First of all, stop shouting. I called you closer so you wouldn’t have to yell.” 

Subaru growled lowly and narrowed his eyes at Shuu, but complied. “Fine,” he said, his voice still disgruntled but much quieter. “Now say what you need to say before I get more pissed and leave.”

“What has upset you this time?” Shuu asked calmly.

“Why the hell do you care?” Subaru growled.

“Because I do. Now tell me what’s wrong.”

“It’s none of your damn business.”

“I would say it is my business since it’s causing you to be loud and angry again.”

“It’s not your fucking problem!”

“It is my problem, for the reason I just said.” 

“It won’t _be_  a fucking problem once I’m _alone_  in _my room_.”

Shuu closed one eye, as if bothered by Subaru’s volume. “I told you not to shout.”

Subaru growled again. “Fine,” he grumbled. “Why the hell do you care what’s got me upset? It’s not going to change anything if you know.”

“Well, perhaps I could help you.”

“Heh.” He gave an amused, sarcastic smirk. “As if you could do a damn thing to help.”

Shuu opened his eye again. “Well, we don’t know that for sure unless you tell me what’s wrong.”

“I don’t understand why you suddenly care when I’m like this all the time.”

“My reasons for bringing it up now and not before don’t matter.”

“Then neither should my reasons for being angry now!” His irritation was starting to grow again. It had lessened slightly from talking to Shuu, but now that the conversation was moving in spirals he was getting annoyed again and just wanted to leave.

Shuu looked up at his younger half-brother--staring into Subaru’s angry red eyes which hid a deep pain he never talked to anyone about--with his own tired blue eyes which hid pity and concern, things Subaru never wanted others to feel for him because he thought he didn’t need or deserve it. Shuu remained silent for a few seconds, then let out a quiet sigh and closed his eyes before slowly sitting up on the couch. He let one leg fall over the side of the couch, folding up the other leg and resting his arm on his raised knee. He slowly opened his eyes and met Subaru’s gaze again. At last he spoke, breaking the tense silence between them. “I want you to calm down.”

Subaru took a step closer, one of his hands dropping to his side and his other hand forming a fist which he held up at Shuu. “You think it’s that easy for me to just ‘calm down’!? I’m not you! You’re naturally lazy! You’re too damn calm all the time!”

Shuu closed his eyes, a vaguely unamused expression on his tranquil face. “Again with the shouting?”

Subaru growled in irritation yet again. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, slowly lowering his raised fist to his side, mirroring the other hand which was now also clenched in a tight fist. He then opened his eyes; Shuu had now done the same. Subaru gritted his teeth. “Get to the fucking point already. What do you want from me? I know you’re not an idiot. You didn’t just stop me to tell me to calm down or ask me what’s wrong, did you?”

“Actually, I did.”

Subaru’s eyes widened. “Are you fucking serious?!”

“I am.”

“You’re wasting my time!”

“You weren’t going to do anything important, anyway, if I had just let you go.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Is trashing your room again to release your anger really that important?”

“Don’t mock me! I don’t pick on you about your music or your sleeping around!”

“I’m not mocking you.” 

“Then what are you doing?!”

“Trying to help you.”

“Help me with what?!”

“Help you calm down.”

“Just because _you_  are calm all the time doesn’t mean you can help _me_  be calm!”

“If you think that I am calm all the time, then you clearly don’t know me as well you think you do.”

“And if you think you can help me calm down so easily, then you clearly don’t know _me_.”

“I know you well enough, little brother.”

Subaru sneered at that. He didn’t like being reminded that he was the youngest of his brothers. It made him feel more inferior than he already did. “Tch. You don’t really know a thing about me.”

“I know enough.”

“Then you should know that I’m getting even more pissed off and I’m about to just fucking leave.”

“I know that you’re a lot calmer here and now than you would have been if I’d let you leave to go destroy your room.”

“Tch.” Subaru’s fists clenched tighter. Shuu was right. Knowing him, that’s exactly what would have happened. But he wasn’t going to admit that he was as readable and predictable as Shuu suggested. “Just get to your god damn point!”

Shuu lowered his other leg off the couch and set his foot down on the ground. “Does there need to be a point? Can’t we simply talk?”

“I don’t want to talk!” Subaru automatically snapped back, leaning forward slightly.

Shuu smirked faintly, a knowing look in his eyes. “I think you do.”

“I don’t!” 

“Then why are you still here talking to me?”

“Gh!” Subaru gritted his teeth again, glaring at Shuu. 

The smirk widened ever so slightly. “Admit it. Talking to me is helping you.”

Subaru stood up straight again, his foot drawing back from when he’d stepped forward earlier. He turned his head, looking away from Shuu. “Shut up.”

“Hm.” The smirk widened even more. “Knew it.”

“What-fucking-ever,” he grumbled.

The smirk lessened, the smug look in Shuu’s eyes fading away. “Want to tell me why you were--or perhaps still are--upset?”

“I don’t even fucking remember anymore.”

The smirk returned, and Shuu had a satisfied look on his face as he moved to lay back down again. “Then I’ve done my job.”

Subaru’s head and eyes snapped back to the older Sakamaki as he returned to his previous position as if nothing had just happened. “Huh?! What the hell do you mean ‘I’ve done my job’!?”

“I meant what I said,” Shuu replied in a murmur, not a hint of emotion in his quiet even voice.

Subaru took a step closer to Shuu again, once more raising a fist. “Explain yourself, damn it!”

“There is nothing to explain. You may go now.”

“Tch! What-fucking-ever, you lazy asshole.” With that, Subaru briskly walked away from Shuu, heading out the way he’d been intending to before, though with not as much anger in his step or tension in his body as there had been before. 

“Come to my room later,” Shuu suddenly said, making Subaru stop in his tracks.

Subaru turned around to look at Shuu again as he asked, “What the fuck do you want this time?”

By the time Subaru turned around, Shuu was already gone without a trace. 

“Gr... What the fuck does he want...” Subaru grumbled. He turned back around and continued walking to his room.

* * *

 

Subaru sat in his room for only a few minutes before his curiosity and boredom compelled him to do as Shuu said and see him in his room. Subaru left his room and walked over to Shuu’s. He knocked on the door with the side of his fist. “Shuu! You in there?” he called out.

There was nothing but silence for a few seconds, then Subaru heard the faint but unmistakable voice of his older half-brother call out, “Come in.” 

Subaru gripped the doorknob tightly as he turned it, then quickly opened the door, nearly slamming it into the wall next to it. His hand still on the doorknob, the young Sakamaki looked down into the room, his eyes wandering around looking for Shuu, though he knew where the blonde was already: laying down on his bed. He let go of the doorknob and walked in, kicking the door shut with his foot before he hopped down the steps. “What did you want, you damn laze? Why call me to your room?”

“There wasn’t enough space on the couch for what I had in mind for you, and I didn’t think you would appreciate doing it on the floor.”

Subaru’s eyes narrowed with suspicion as he scrutinized the lounging Sakamaki. “What the hell are you talking about?” he asked as he walked closer to Shuu’s bed. “What do you mean by that?” 

Subaru was close enough to see Shuu’s face now, which was calm and expressionless as always. Of course, his eyes were closed, and his hands were resting on his stomach. “Hm. Don’t think wrong. I simply wanted us to have more space.”

“For _what_?” Subaru asked demandingly, stopping at the corner of Shuu’s bed. “What the hell are you planning?!”

Shuu opened an eye and turned his head to look at his younger brother. “Lay down next to me.” 

Subaru frowned deeply. “Huh? Why?”

“I want you to sleep with me.”

Subaru’s eyes widened. “What the fuck?! That sounds like something Laito would say!”

“Hm? You think I’m that kind of pervert, huh?” Though he didn’t look surprised at the accusation, and he wasn’t; he had worded it in a way that would imply more than what he intended. “No, I don’t mean like that. I mean actually sleep.”

Subaru gritted his teeth, his hands forming fists at his side. “You called me into your room...so I can _sleep_?”

“More or less.”

“Why the hell?! I could sleep in my own damn room!”

“Hm. True. But you always sleep in there.”

“Because it’s _my room_. I don’t sleep just anywhere like you do!”

“Because you _can’t_  just sleep anywhere like I do. We aren’t the same.”

“Ah huh! Exactly! So why would I want to sleep somewhere else?!”

“Because I think you need a break from that corpse box you call a bed.”

Subaru narrowed his eyes, feeling slightly offended. “What the hell is wrong with my bed?”

“It’s a weird choice. Makes you seem like a stereotype.”

“It’s not weird. It’s very comfortable. It shuts out light and sound, just the way I like it.”

“Hm. Avoiding the light, huh? What are you, a vampire?” 

Subaru closed his eyes, unamused. “Ha ha,” he said, his tone flat yet sarcastic. “So hilarious.”

Shuu opened his other eye, a slight frown appearing on his face. Despite the vague humor in the way he worded things, Shuu was actually being completely serious. He worried about his little brother more than he let on, and pitied him for embodying the typical vampire stereotype: he was cold, dark, and brooding, adverse to the sun, wore only blacks and whites and reds, and chose to sleep in a coffin. Shuu sat up in bed, once again putting one leg up and resting his arm on his knee. He locked his half-closed blue eyes on Subaru's closed eyelids. “I’m not trying to be funny.”

Subaru opened his eyes, frowning back at Shuu. “Good. Because you aren’t.”

Shuu remained silent for a few seconds, trying to read the emotions hidden in Subaru’s eyes. He couldn’t see anything past the unamused and disgruntled sour expression the white-haired vampire typically wore, though he knew that there was much more beneath the surface. “Why are you still standing there?” he finally asked. “I told you to lie down next to me.”

Subaru crossed his arms and leaned to one side, away from the bed. “I’m not sleeping with you, Shuu.”

“Why not?”

“Because I have my own damn bed!”

“I honestly question your life choices. They worry me.”

“Tch. Why the hell are you worried about me, though?!”

“Because you are very easy to worry about.”

“What about Ayato? Idiot sleeps in a damn iron maiden. Shouldn’t you be questioning _his_  sanity instead?”

“I wasn’t questioning your sanity, to begin with. I was simply stating what I thought about your decision to sleep in a coffin instead of a normal bed. Ayato is odd as well, but--”

“You shouldn’t be judging _anyone_  for their bed choices. You’ll sleep literally anywhere.”

“Not just anywhere. I have to be comfortable, at the very least.”

“The floor or a park bench isn’t ‘comfortable’.”

“How would you know? You haven’t tried it, have you?”

“You haven’t tried sleeping in my bed. It’s _really_  fucking comfortable. So don’t fucking judge me about it.”

“I can judge you if I want to. As your older brother, I have every right to be concerned.”

Subaru stood up straight and threw his hands up in the air in exasperation. “What the hell are you concerned about?!”

“Your mental and emotional health,” Shuu replied simply.

Subaru was caught off guard by Shuu’s words; his eyes widened and he lowered his arms as he calmed for just a moment. “My mental and emotional health? Since when do you care about that?”

“For a while.”

“Why would you care about something as unimportant as that?!”

Shuu’s eyes narrowed slightly, an uncharacteristic seriousness and even a hint of sadness in them. “It isn’t unimportant. The reason why all of us are so messed up is because those things were neglected by those who raised us, and even after we all came to live here we have continued to ignore the things that plague our minds and haunt our hearts.”

Subaru’s anger flared up. His teeth clenched together, his lips curled back to reveal his fangs, his hands clenched tightly into fists at his sides, and he glared hard at Shuu with a cold yet fiery look in his eyes. “You have _nothing_  to say about how my mother raised me. That isn’t a concern of yours.”

Shuu glared right back at him, his eyes also growing cold. “Perhaps not. But I do know that as a result of whatever happened, you are the way you are now. Living here with the five of us, away from that castle, gives you the opportunity to escape the situation you were born into, and the time and space you need to heal from what you went through. We’re all struggling to move past what happened to each of us, but whether or not _you_  actually make progress is up to _you_. Letting yourself brood in your misery won’t work. If you want to escape your pain, you can’t just run around punching walls and expecting your inner demons to go away by simply ignoring them. And shutting people out--especially those who want to aid you--won’t help you, either.”

Subaru’s expression softened slightly. This kind of seriousness and deepness from Shuu was unusual. It was off-putting. It made him feel a bit depressed. He knew Shuu was right, though. Subaru was fully aware of the fact that, like himself and the others, Shuu was born into a lifestyle he didn’t want and had to put up with a lot of pressure from both parents to be what they wanted him to be. The two brothers had not been through the same things, and didn’t feel the same pains, or even deal with their inner demons and ghosts of their pasts in the same ways, but one of the things they had in common was the fact that they both suffered some sort of abuse from their mothers and cruel punishment from their father. 

Subaru let out a loud sigh. He suddenly decided to stay, instead of storming out like he usually would have. He took a seat on the corner of Shuu’s bed, kicking off his boots and putting his feet up. He took a similar position to Shuu, keeping one leg out straight and bending the other leg up, resting one arm on his knee and keeping himself propped up with his other arm. “Alright. Fine. I’ll talk to you. But don’t you dare try to put this all on me. You aren’t perfect either. You’re far from it. You avoid your responsibility like I avoid social interaction.”

Shuu smiled faintly, the serious and melancholic look in his eyes gaining a hint of contentment now that Subaru had decided to stay and talk instead of running away from the subject at hand. “I am very much aware of that.”

Subaru gazed at Shuu with mild irritation but also quiet curiosity. “You know, I wonder why the hell the pressure your mother put on you to work hard and be the best didn’t make you more like Ayato.”

Shuu’s smile grew ever so slightly. “Hm. Sometimes I also wonder that. It’s probably because we’re not the same person. He is energetic and social by nature. I am the opposite. Just because we were in similar situations doesn’t necessarily mean we should have ended up the same way.”

“Mm. I suppose not.”

A silence fell between them. Though it was not an awkward one. It was a contemplative one. A reflective one. They both were thinking about their lives--both past and current--in a surprisingly calm and comfortable mood. Subaru was realizing the truth of Shuu’s words, and Shuu was realizing that he needed to take his own words to heart. Subaru dealt with things by running from them, and he kept his feelings inside and pushed away everyone to keep them from cracking him open, and destroyed things around him so he wouldn’t destroy himself. Meanwhile, Shuu dealt with his problems by sleeping them off, and he drowned his problems along with the rest of the world out with music, and he rebelled against the hard-working attitude his mother tried to force upon him by being lazy and pushing everything onto Reiji, using him like the butler that their mother raised him to be. Neither of them were perfect, and they still had a long way to go before they could properly function as people, but for now, they knew that they could trust and help each other while they were on their own paths to recovery. 

After a few minutes--the two vampire brothers feeling content to sit in silence, simply enjoying the other’s presence without the need for action or conversation--Subaru broke the silence. His eyes closed and his head tilted back as his mouth opened wide and let out a loud yawn. 

Shuu smirked faintly, the sad and contemplative look fading from his eyes, replaced with a quiet amusement. “Tired?” he asked calmly and quietly.

Subaru kept his eyes closed and his head tilted back. “Hm. Maybe a little.”

“Heh. Being angry does take a lot of energy out of you; being so angry all the time is wearing you out.” 

Subaru tilted his head forward and opened his eyes, glaring at Shuu with that typical cold and unamused expression of his, though his usual tension was not present within his body. “Shut up. At least I don’t bum around all day sleeping.”

Shuu didn’t look the slightest bit offended. “You should sleep, then.”

“I don’t feel like getting up. I think your laziness has rubbed off on me.”

“Then don’t get up. I still want you to sleep with me.”

Subaru’s eyebrows furrowed slightly. “Why the hell would I sleep in your bed at all, let alone with you in it? I can just sleep in my own bed.”

“Like I was saying before, you need a break from that casket you call a bed.”

“It’s a coffin, not a casket,” Subaru interrupted. “They’re different.”

“Ah huh. Either way, it’s more like a grave than a place to sleep.”

“It’s more of a place to sleep than any of the odd spots you choose.”

“I suppose you might be right. However, I think that you should try sleeping elsewhere. Just this once.”

Subaru raised an eyebrow. “Why with you?”

“Why not with me?” 

“Because that’s weird. We’re brothers, not lovers.”

“It’s just sleep. It doesn’t matter that we’re brothers.”

“It matters to me. I sleep alone.”

“I think you’re just scared to be close to anyone, physically as well as emotionally.”

Subaru scowled at the accusation. “Hmph. I’m not scared. I just don’t like it.”

A hint of seriousness re-entered Shuu’s expression and tone. “Subaru, just sleep with me. Humor me for once.”

“Why should I?” 

“Aren’t I your favorite brother?”

Subaru leaned forward, his eyes narrowing. “Don't try to play the favorite brother card with me! And who the hell told you that anyway?”

Shuu smirked faintly. “I suspected it for years. But you just confirmed it for me.”

“Tch.” Subaru looked away, an embarrassed expression on his face. “Just because I can tolerate you more than the others doesn’t make you my favorite,” he lied, mumbling a bit.

“You dislike me the least, which means you like me the most.”

“Hmph.”

Shuu smirked a little wider for a moment, then his expression relaxed back to its neutral state and he laid back down. “Just sleep with me,” he said, his voice lowering to his usual tired murmur. His eyes slid closed.

Subaru looked back at Shuu, his own face relaxing. He stared at his older brother silently for a while, secretly admiring his calmness, envying his apparent natural tranquility. He watched Shuu lie there for about a minute, then closed his eyes and let out a sigh before crawling over to the eldest Sakamaki and lying next to him on his back. 

A small smile appeared on Shuu’s face as he felt the bed shift while Subaru moved around, then felt things still as Subaru laid down on his right. “Good choice,” he murmured.

“Shut up,” Subaru murmured in reply. He rested his hands on his stomach and closed his eyes, a small frown still on his pale face. 

The smile faded from Shuu’s face as he relaxed further. He quietly breathed in and out, his chest gently rising and falling.

Subaru heard this and opened his left eye, a hint of confusion in it as his gaze flicked to the elder vampire. “What are you doing?” he asked calmly and curiously.

“Hm? Breathing.”

“Why? We’re vampires. We don’t need to breathe.”

“Hm.” His lips formed a small smile, once again amused by his younger brother’s way of thinking about their species. “That may be true, but that doesn’t mean I have to embody the stereotypes and let myself be some lifeless corpse.”

“Huh? What are you going on about?” Subaru asked, opening his other eye and turning his head to Shuu.

“Breathing like this helps me relax, and helps me fall asleep faster.”

“Huh.”

“Try it. It might help. Breathing techniques don’t only help humans, they help us vampires as well. In through the nose, out through the mouth.”

“Hm.” Subaru turned his face to the ceiling again and closed his eyes once more. He started breathing in and out gently and quietly through his nose and mouth, his chest rising and falling in time with his breaths, in time with Shuu’s. After a few repetitions, he found that he did feel a bit calmer and more relaxed. With each exhale through his mouth he felt a bit more of the tension leave him, until he felt himself start to doze off. A few minutes later he stopped breathing again, letting his body naturally fall into a light, quiet and restful slumber. His face was calm, almost entirely peaceful, though there was still a hint of pain and sadness beneath those pale eyelids of his. All of that was negligible, however, and Subaru slept peacefully without any of his usual nightmares disturbing him.

Of course, Shuu had fallen asleep ages ago. Though his pain was buried farther beneath his calm and careless exterior, it still occasionally tormented him from deep within. However, that pain was of no concern to him now as he, too, slept calmly and peacefully.

The two brothers slept side by side, subconsciously enjoying each other’s company as they forgot their troubles, even if only for a little while.


End file.
